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It's time to take health and safety seriously
Archived article dated Monday November 5th 2007
Retailers are becoming increasingly concerned about in-store security issues. But are they taking the associated health and safety concerns as seriously as they should be?
Although most retailers have security equipment installed to help reduce the occurrence of stolen products and burglary, some still do not have adequate protection for their staff and customers.Ensuring the welfare of staff and customers is of utmost importance to employers. Violent offenders and environmental hazards in-store pose a risk to those working in or simply shopping in retail outlets. But, without full knowledge of incidents occurring in their estate, how can management know where they need to implement changes to create a safer environment? The potential risk to retailers is huge, therefore, it is imperative that management is informed of all details when an incident occurs, and that all details are logged accordingly, with a full audit trail for future reference. Comprehensive reports are essential to ensure that everyone has an accurate picture of events and a full account of the associated financial impact on the business. This data enables the retailer to plan and budget for in-store precautions to avoid these type of situations re-occurring, and provides evidence to support civil recovery proceedings and support for Human Resource purposes.
Traditionally, retailers have used paper-based logs in-store to record these events, but these can be in-accurate, out-of-date and are wide open to the issues that all paper-based systems face such as in-accuracy, illegibility and some are simply not used. Fortunately, with this in mind, systems have now been developed to help overcome these issues.
David Nuttall, Managing Director for Checkpoint Systems UK, explains: “IncidentReporter monitors the frequency, nature, severity and cost of incidents. These can be logged in two ways - either directly through an intranet or web connection, or via a central help desk, where the details are entered on the stores' behalf. Once an event has been recorded, the system sends an e-mail alert to nominated individuals and extensive details are displayed on each users' unique home page. Incidents cannot be 'closed' until all required information has been recorded, which ensures that no vital information is missed. Tables and graphs can also be extracted, highlighting the full cost breakdown to the retailer. Also, the fact that it is available in multi language and currency means that retailers can monitor incidents across their entire estate - they are not just restricted to one country”.
Such systems will prove invaluable for management teams. With health and safety continuing to be a top priority it is important for companies to take the next step to ensure that their people, premises and customers are fully protected at all times.
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